K433 – History of Social Welfare and Social Policy

2 Credit Hours

This course provides an overview of the historical foundations of the American welfare state as a basis for investigating our contemporary practice. The broad purpose of this survey is to provide beginning frameworks for understanding the powerful, but often subtle, influence of the past on one’s actions, specifically how your work in a “family support service” can contribute to enhancing and/or negatively affecting family well-being. The central theses of this course are 1) that history is lived and living; 2) that policies have direct and daily impact on children’s, families’, and professionals’ lives; and 3) that consideration of historical and ideological influences on one’s professional actions is an essential dimension of reflective practice. Therefore we will actively engage in critically untangling policies and programs that have developed in response to issues such as poverty, immigration, urbanization, racial and ethnic diversification, changing family structures, civil rights movements, and shifts in women’s labor patterns.